Pei Ji's shoulders felt heavy, his expression grim. "I don't know either. Let's wait and see. If they still don't come back..."
"Then we can't just sit here and wait!"
Aisen was frantic.
Pei Ji, already annoyed, became even more irritable. "If we don't wait, do you have another plan?"
Aisen was silenced.
If he had a plan, he would have already put it into action, why would he be here asking Pei Ji...
"Forget it, let's wait."
They could wait, but Ai Qi couldn't. She stood up to leave, only to be grabbed by Aisen, who vaguely felt that his sister might cause trouble again.
"Ancestor, stop messing around, can you just behave yourself?"
"Brother, let go of me."
Ai Qi didn't explain, struggling with all her might to break free.
Aisen was furious. He grabbed her wrist, pulled her to sit beside him, and growled, "What exactly do you want to do? Are you not causing enough chaos as it is?"
"Brother..."
Ai Qi looked at him blankly, her face filled with stubbornness. "I want to find Brother Fu!"
Aisen was exasperated. "Find him for what? He's an adult, he'll be fine. Even if something happens, you don't need to find him, you don't need to worry about him. You just need to stay put."
"I won't!"
Ai Qi was being exceptionally stubborn, enough to drive someone mad.
Aisen gritted his teeth in anger. "Why don't you understand? Going now won't help Fu Jingshu and Shen Qingqing, it will only add to the chaos!"
Ai Qi couldn't hear him at all. She hadn't slept well all night, and the thought of Fu Jingshu not returning all night made her anxious.
She became quiet and still.
Aisen thought she had listened and relaxed his grip slightly. Ai Qi immediately broke free from his hand and ran away.
"You come back here!"
Aisen was about to explode. He scrambled up and chased after her. Fortunately, the girl was tired from the day, and her energy hadn't fully recovered.
He caught up to her in a few steps. As she struggled frantically, Aisen had no choice but to hoist her over his shoulder. Disregarding Ai Qi's struggles, he brought her back to Pei Ji and pushed her to the ground.
"Behave yourself! Stop causing trouble!"
"I won't, let go of me!"
"Ai Qi!"
"Aisen! Let go of me!"
He roared, and Ai Qi's voice became even louder. The siblings argued so fiercely that it attracted the attention of others. Pei Ji's forehead was covered in black lines; he couldn't stand the embarrassment and quickly intervened.
"Alright, stop arguing. Can you two calm down for a bit?"
Aisen and Ai Qi glared at each other, looking more like enemies than siblings.
Finally, they both huffed in annoyance and turned away.
Pei Ji looked at them, unsure whether to laugh or cry. He sighed and said, "Ai Qi, your brother is stopping you for your own good. Fu Jingshu is skilled. If he hasn't returned, there must be a reason. If you go, you'll just be a burden."
Ai Qi fell silent.
"Aisen, you too. How can you treat Ai Qi like that?" After addressing Ai Qi, Pei Ji started scolding Aisen, being fair to both. "No matter what, your attitude is wrong. We're all in this together, so stop arguing. It's not conducive to unity."
The siblings remained silent.
Aisen was still angry, especially seeing his sister listen to Pei Ji and not him, which made him even more upset. He got up and walked to the side.
"I'm going to get some fresh air."
As he left, it became exceptionally quiet between Pei Ji and Ai Qi.
Pei Ji suddenly looked up at Ai Qi, his gaze seemingly probing. "Ai Qi, were you truly just worried about Fu Jingshu just now?"
Ai Qi stiffened. "Of course. Pretty sister saved me, I was worried about both of them."
Pei Ji chuckled. "I hope so."
"What do you mean?"
Pei Ji shook his head, casually plucking a blade of grass and putting it in his mouth. "I just want to tell you that some people and some things are best left untouched, not even thought about."
Ai Qi lowered her head, her face obscured by shadows. "I know. I won't do anything I shouldn't."
Pei Ji looked at her deeply. "It's best if you don't."
Before long, Mr. Z and the butler returned. Both of them looked exhausted. In response to everyone's questioning glances, Mr. Z shook his head and went back to his room to rest.
The butler then briefly explained to everyone that they had left last night, following Fu Jingshu and the others, also to search for Shen Qingqing.
But they hadn't found her.
Afterward, Fu Jingshu also returned.
He was alone, without Shen Qingqing, and without King.
"Why are you alone?"
Fu Jingshu's face was dark, his brows betraying his exhaustion and frustration. "King is also missing. Didn't he come back?"
Everyone shook their heads.
The old man came out at that moment and looked behind him. "You lost King too?"
Fu Jingshu remained silent.
"Speak," the old man's last shred of patience was gone. "What happened? I told you to go with him to find them. If you couldn't find them, fine, but you lost him!"
The old man's sudden outburst surprised everyone, and no one dared to say anything.
But fortunately, Fu Jingshu didn't seem inclined to argue with him. He let the old man berate him, remaining silent. After a while, the old man grew tired and stopped talking.
Everyone silently began to arrange breakfast.
However, that morning, no one had much appetite.
After eating, everyone was contemplating whether to discuss how to search for the missing people... when the old man and Fu Jingshu started arguing again.
The cause was the old man resuming his scolding of Fu Jingshu, this time with more venomous words.
"What a waste!"
As soon as he said this, Fu Jingshu's face darkened. "You're not a waste? Your damn bug was looking around everywhere outside, and it almost bit me!"
Not only was it useless, it even caused trouble!
The old man was furious. "You can't find them yourself, and now you're blaming me? If you had gone with him back then, or if you hadn't gone to save Ai Qi last time, that girl wouldn't have gotten into trouble trying to save someone this time. Ultimately, it's all your fault!"
Fu Jingshu's thin lips pressed together, his eyes dark.
The old man said angrily, "Now you're passing the buck. You're just too useless. You were given the bug, and King accompanied you to search, and you still couldn't find them. You're useless. If I had known you were this incompetent, I wouldn't have entrusted the girl to you in the first place!"
"Whether you entrust her to me or not is not for you to decide."
Fu Jingshu didn't humour him either, retorting directly.
When two big figures argued, it was like fire at the city gates, and everyone else was just a small shrimp, daring not to get involved, even keeping a safe distance.
They were afraid of being caught in the crossfire.
But as the argument grew more intense, the old man became enraged, and Fu Jingshu's every word was laced with barbs. If they continued, they would start fighting.
Pei Ji quickly stepped forward to mediate. "Alright, alright, stop arguing. We all have the same goal, why argue like this?"
Aisen, sweating profusely, also tried to persuade them. "Yes, it's never good to damage relationships. We still need to work together to find them and get through this difficult time."
"Hmph, working together with you lot, I'm afraid I'll die without knowing how!"
The old man looked at everyone disdainfully, as if he had lowered them all into the dust. He packed his bag and left without another word.
"Where are you going?"
"I'm leaving. I won't return until I find the girl!"
The old man was stubborn and didn't even look back.